Pages

Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Elderflower Syrup

We made it past July 4th, and that means we definitely enter summer territory. It’s been a wet and rather cold summer so far but the next two months might bring the endless sunshine and beach weather everyone has been waiting for.

The other day I finally found a recipe for elderflower syrup that has all the details right. It was just in the nick of time since my elderberry tree started to bloom. I had tried my hands on elderflower syrup before but with less than convincing results. The syrup had no taste and was on the bitter side. I think I skimped on the citric acid and the massive amounts of sugar. This recipe, however, had the all important little detail of “cut off all the stems, really close to the flowers”. Yeah, no stems. Not even tiny ones. I also added the citric acid, which gives it a nice zing, plenty of sugar, since it is a syrup after all. The syrup is the best I’ve ever had. Elderflower Syrup Heaven!

Mixing a tablespoon of syrup with 100ml of Pinot Grigio and a can of Perrier makes for a very refreshing summer drink!

Ingredients:

3 cups organic granulated sugar

1 3/4 cups water

2 tablespoons food-grade citric acid

15 big elderflower heads, just all blossom opened, and no brown edges yet

How to:

Remove any insects or debris from the elderflower blossoms. Just shake them out. Do not wash them, as they will lose a lot of flavor.

Combine sugar, water, and the citric acid in a saucepan and stir until the sugar has dissolved. There is no need to bring it to a boil, it won’t even need to heat very much. Remove from heat and allow the syrup to cool to room temperature.

Trim the stems away from the elderflower blossoms and discard. Try to remove as much of the stems as you can.

Add the blossoms to a large glass jar.

Pour the cool syrup into the jar with the elderflower blossoms. Make sure that the blossoms are immersed in the syrup. Cover the jar with a lid and let it steep in the fridge for 48 hours, stirring the syrup once daily.

Strain the syrup through a fine-meshed sieve into a clean jar or bottle. Store the syrup in a cool place for up to one year. Once opened, store the bottle in the fridge.